Exchange program sends Nipmuc students to Spain

UPTON - The Mendon Upton Regional School District's Spanish Immersion Program is moving to a whole new level.

For the first time, students from the school district will be participating in a home-stay exchange program with students from San Sebastián in Spain.

"An exchange program is a great culmination of the students' years of study of the Spanish language and culture. What better way to ignite a passion for future travel and global perspectives," said Nipmuc Regional High School Associate Principal Mary Anne Moran, who will be attending the exploratory trip to San Sebastián later this summer.

Santa Teresa, the school in San Sebastián that will participate in the program, is a private, multilingual K-12 school near the beach, where they speak Spanish, Basque, and English, with optional French classes.

From Sept. 8 to 14, Superintendent Joseph Maruszczak, Spanish Immersion Program Coordinator Katie Cardamone, High School Spanish Immersion teacher Julie Ahmed-Jussaume, Moran and Nipmuc students Abigail Murphy and Katie Nadolski will travel to San Sebastian. During the trip, they hope to inspire students from Santa Teresa to potentially participate in the exchange program.

During the actual 10- to 14-day exchange program, which has yet to be determined, students will be living with host families in San Sebastián. The students will improve their Spanish language skills through total immersion, and they will experience living in a city significantly different from their homes in Upton.

"It really increases their value of the language, because they will be somewhere where Spanish is the majority language spoken," said Cardamone.

“Over the past five years a key strategic initiative in the District Strategic Plan has been to expand world language offerings at all levels, so all students may have a richer understanding of what it means to be a global citizen in a diverse world," said Maruszczak. "This exchange program progresses this initiative forward in a significant way.”

After the trip, students have agreed to become ambassadors of the exchange program, and they will help inspire other high school students to participate. According to Cardamone, the goal for 2018 is to potentially send about 10 students to Spain.

Teachers were approved $2,000 for the expenses of the trip from the Mendon-Upton Education Foundation. The students also hosted fundraisers and set up a go FundMePage with a set goal of $4,000 that will help them pay for trip expenses.

"I'm excited that the exchange program will provide our students with a meaningful way to apply their study of language and culture," said Nipmuc Principal John Clements. "The exchange will allow our kids to develop relationships with students across the globe, as they use their study of language to explore the world."

Christian Yapor can be reached at 508-634-7521, or at cyapor@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChristianYapor.